Hot stock to watch: Nvidia (NVDA) on Thursday released the second quarter of fiscal year 2013 earnings. The report shows that Nvidia’s second quarter net profit slipped 21% over the same period last year, mainly due to the growth of operating costs of this chip manufacturer, which offset the year-on-year growth in revenue. But Nvidia’s second-quarter results topped Wall Street expectations, and the outlook for the third quarter results also exceeded analyst estimates, driving NVDA stock price to rise more than 4.35% in the after-hours trading. NVDA stock price also rose in the regular trading session on a bulgy volume, making it one of the hot stocks today.
For the quarter ended July 29, Nvidia posted a net profit of $119 million, or earnings per share of 19 cents, less than the same period last year. For the second quarter of fiscal year 2012, Nvidia posted a net profit of $151.6 million, or earnings per share of 25 cents. Excluding the one-time items such as stock compensation expense, Nvidia recognized earnings per share of 27 cents, lower than 32 cents a year earlier, but topping the consensus estimate. According to the survey by Thomson Reuters, analysts on average had expected Nvidia would deliver earnings per share of 14 cents for the second quarter.
Nvidia recognized second quarter revenue of $1.04 billion, an increase of 2.7% over the same period last year. Nvidia had forecasted in May of this year that its second-quarter revenue would be $990 million to $1.05 billion.
Nvidia’s second quarter gross margin was 51.8%, slightly higher than 51.7% in the same period last year. During the second quarter, Nvidia saw total operating expenses increasing by 14% over the same period last year; in addition, R&D expenditures and operating costs both grew.
Nvidia forecasts the third-quarter revenue of $1.15 billion to $1.25 billion, beating analysts had expected. According to the survey by Thomson Reuters, analysts on average expected Nvidia’s third quarter revenue of $1.09 billion. Nvidia also estimates the third quarter gross margin of 51.8%, or 52.0% on the basis of non-GAAP, flat with the previous quarter.
NVDA stock price gained 3.37%, or $0.48, to end at $14.71 in the regular trading session on the Nasdaq on Tursday, on a volume of 20.56 million shares, double its daily average of 10.40 million shares. NVDA stock price is above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which are standing at $12.97 and $14.02, respectively.